


This Isn't Goodbye Forever

by Tgaret990



Category: World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: AJ's IG post had me tearing up, Because you have to believe that they're all devastated by this, But a maybe kind of hopeful ending, Gen, I hope for the best for all three of our boys, I'm venting just a little here, It's sad I'm sorry but I can't, Mild Swearing, Poor AJ is taking it really hard here, Skype, a bit of crying, hence this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-16
Updated: 2020-04-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:28:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23689957
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tgaret990/pseuds/Tgaret990
Summary: AJ thought it would be just another day at home until he got the text from Karl. The fallout of what the fandom is dubbing Black Wednesday.ORAJ, Karl, and Luke decide to Skype after the Good Brothers get their future endeavor calls.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 7





	This Isn't Goodbye Forever

This Isn’t Goodbye Forever

A/N: I haven’t written something **not** Golden Lovers wrestling related in… Forever, and Karl posted something **_very interesting_ ** to his Twitter today that made me mark out like a fool… Then I saw AJ’s IG post, felt my heart break, and this is the result. Kind of sad. Sorry. :(

  
  


_Wednesday, April 15th, 2020_

Today should have been a great day. It had started out wonderfully. He had woken up with Wendy in his arms, a gentle kiss making her eyes flutter open with a smile. The kids were finding all kinds of ways to make him laugh during breakfast and he had a little time off after Wrestlemania. Sure the world had lost its mind and he was kind of stuck at home, but being able to finally spend some quality time with his family made him the happiest man alive.

Then the text came.

He was watching the kids run around the backyard from the kitchen when he got it. He looked at his phone in confusion when he read it.

_Have you talked to Andrew at all today?_ It was from Karl. Strange…

_No. Why? What’s wrong?_

_I’m about to call him. Check your Twitter. You’ll see what I mean._ That gave AJ pause. They’d all been at the meeting. They knew what could be coming. They—No. Surely not. AJ opened his Twitter, scrolling through his timeline and paling at what he saw.

Every wrestling news source from Fightful, the Wrestling Observer, Pro Wrestling Sheet, etc. had written articles about the mass WWE release that was currently happening. Mass WWE release. Oh shit. He picked a random tweet and glanced at the names. One of the first he saw was Luke Gallows.

Shit.

Fuck.

He grabbed a seat at the kitchen island and quickly Skyped Karl and Luke, the latter of which looked torn between devastated and resigned.

“Tell me they didn’t,” AJ pleaded. Gallows shook his head with a sigh.

“ _I just got the call_ .” AJ closed his eyes and tried to take a deep breath. This could not be happening right now. This could **not** be happening. Karl sighed as well, drawing AJ’s gaze.

“ _You know that probably means I’m getting one too, right_?” he asked them, and that was where AJ lost it. He slammed his fist down on the table, startling the other two.

“Dammit! I’m not just going to sit at home when my best friends just got the boot! I’m not gonna stand for this!”

“ _Allen, you signed a five year contract. Vince likes you. There’s no way you can get out of it,_ ” Karl reasoned. AJ looked to him sadly, fuming.

“I didn’t sign up for this,” AJ told them. “We said when we were leaving New Japan that we were coming here together, that we were **staying** together.”

“ _I know,_ ” Gallows replied. “ _But there’s nothing you can do now_.”

AJ was about to protest when Karl’s ringtone went off in the Skype, the three of them freezing. Karl laughed sadly, looking at the caller ID.

“ _That was quick. I guess that’s me, boys._ ” He muted himself as he answered it, and AJ had his head in his hands. Of all the things to happen in the world in a time like this… Part of him wanted to be happy for them. Their booking hadn’t been the best during their run, and there was a lot to be missed about Japan. They’d all talked about it before, going back, before ultimately deciding to stay. And that killed any thought of being happy. They’d stayed for **him** , because he had a good thing going and had thought about leaving it all here, in America, closer to home. They’d all stayed. Why had they stayed?! Karl came back on the call, and the look on his face confirmed the worst. AJ shook his head, beside himself.

“So this is it? This is how it all ends? Stocks are down, so let’s kick all the guys we don’t think are worth it to the curb? Are you fucking kidding me?!”

“ _The names just keep on rolling in too,_ ” Gallows told him. “ _I don’t think I can look at them anymore…_ ” AJ shook his head, gutted, trying to keep his voice steady.

“I mean… How are you guys holding up?” What else could he say? They both laughed softly, Karl answering.

“ _I mean, we’re out of a job now. We don’t get to work with our best friend, our brother, anymore. We have to tell the family._ ”

“Shit. Sorry,” AJ apologized.

“ _Stop that._ ” Gallows told him. “ _And I know what you’re thinking too! Don’t even try to put any blame on yourself._ ” They knew him so well.

“We could have left—

“ _But we didn’t,_ ” Karl interrupted. “ _We stuck together because that’s what we do, what we’ve always done._ ”

“Where are you gonna sign?” AJ asked after a few moments, averting his eyes as he felt his face burn.

“ _Don’t know for sure yet, but we’re thinking about Japan. It’d be nice to see the boys again, work with some new and old faces._ ” AJ nodded, sniffling, and the other two groaned.

“ _Don’t go and do that! If you cry then all of us are gonna end up crying!_ ”

“Chad,” AJ told him with a watery smile. “Shut up.” That got a laugh out of the three as AJ wiped his eyes, taking yet another deep breath. “I just… Devastated doesn’t even come close to how I feel right now.”

“ _This isn’t goodbye forever, you know,_ ” Gallows told him. “ _Don’t think we won’t come visit and stay in touch._ ” AJ let out a harsh breath, wiping another tear away.

“I know,” he answered, voice breaking.

“ _Dammit, Allen,_ ” Karl laughed, wiping away a tear of his own. “ _Look at what you’ve done now!_ ” Gallows was no better, and the three of them smiled, just trying to hold themselves together. AJ nodded as it all sunk in. This was how he was going to see his brothers for the foreseeable future, after the pandemic, after the new signings. God, was he going to miss them so. **Damn** . **_Much._ **

“Okay. I, uh… I’ll let you guys go,” he told them. “I think I… I think I need a little bit, you know?” They looked to him in understanding.

“ _Of course, man. And hey, remember, we’re here for you no matter what,_ ” Karl told him.

“ _We love you. You call if you need anything, alright?_ ” Gallows asked.

“Alright. Love y’all too,” AJ told them. They all Two Sweeted their cameras before hanging up the call, and AJ let out a sob as he put his phone down. Maybe he needed longer than a little bit. He startled when Anney, his five year old, hesitantly took his hand, looking worried out of her mind.

“Daddy?” she asked quietly. AJ smiled sadly at her, picking her up and setting her on his lap, wiping at his eyes.

“I’m okay, sweetheart. A lot of stuff is going on at work right now, and Uncle Karl and Uncle Luke called with some bad news, that’s all.” She hugged him, and he held her close, sniffling again. It was going to be a long week.

When he woke up the next morning the cloud over his head and the emptiness in his chest was still there. Oh boy. What brightened his day though was when he got a notification about a tweet from Karl. His @ had Machine Gun in it again, and the ending of the video teaser said Tokyo, Japan. He smiled at all of the love his boys were getting from the fans, as well as all of the beyond excited reactions. Also, was Fale inviting them back into Bullet Club?! Interesting… 

It hurt that he couldn’t be there with them this go round, but after a bit of thinking last night he’d made up his mind, and they were right.

This isn’t goodbye forever.


End file.
